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Gary Lockett had figured that Kelly Pavlik would forfeit one of his alphabet belts and, as the No. 1 contender, he would fight for the vacant title.
Why would one of the biggest names in boxing be inclined to defend the world middleweight title against an unknown 31-year-old challenger from Wales, after all?
As Bill Clinton might say, "It's the story line, ******!"
With trainer of the year Enzo Calzaghe in Lockett's corner, world super middleweight champion Joe Calzaghe will be near enough, too, for reporters to pose questions and get answers. Fans' forums will buzz with speculation about a Calzaghe-Pavlik matchup (provided that Calzaghe takes care of business against Bernard Hopkins first).
In other words, it's a cheap way for promoter Bob Arum to sell Pavlik's first title defense which, on paper, does little to set the pulse racing.
In overcoming Jermain Taylor to ascend to his present status, Pavlik demonstrated fierce desire, foreboding power and film-like star quality. Lockett, on the other hand, has been barely a blip on the radar.
[+] EnlargeChris Royle/FightWireImages.com
Compared to Pavlik, Lockett, left, has fought relatively obscure opposition.
Erudite and articulate, the challenger knows the script. He is not ******. In fact, he regards himself as a businessman first and foremost.
When offered the opportunity to encounter Arthur Abraham for another alphabet title at middleweight late last year, Lockett turned it down. The Armenian's promoter, Wilfried Sauerland, offered less money than Lockett was being paid by his own promoter, Frank Warren, to fatten his record -- and Sauerland wanted options to promote five future bouts.
"Why would I sign my life away?" Lockett thought.
Of course, it helps that he has been astute enough in managing his financial affairs to invest in an impressive property portfolio, which includes a couple of developments in the Welsh town of Pontypool and another by the waterfront in Swansea. He also studied sports science at the University of Newport and is a personal fitness instructor.
Boxing has been his primary focus since he was 8 years old, but he is no prisoner to his profession, not in the conventional way. He is bright enough to make a better life for himself, wife Nia and 19-month-old son Jac (the Welsh spelling) by other means, but he also knows the difference between boxing Pavlik or Abraham: It's the economy, ******!
I'm being paid four or five times more than what my previous highest purse earned me. That's a good incentive.
-- Gary Lockett, on why he agreed to fight Kelly Pavlik
"I'm being paid four or five times more than what my previous highest purse earned me," he said. "That's a good incentive. Very few of us fighters come out of boxing having made money. That's the reality. So what would have been the point in me putting my career on the line, if I wasn't going to earn anything out of it?
"Some fights are so brutal that you will never be the same again as a fighter. If it's going to be the last bout of your career, you might as well get paid well for it."
Not that Lockett believes he will experience his last night in the ring on June 7 at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City. It is true, however, that he has long wrestled with his demons, and his lack of self-confidence almost persuaded him at one point to quit.
As a young amateur, he had revealed a precocious talent. Nine British junior titles and a gold medal in the European junior championships as a welterweight in 1992 confirmed his potential.
But instead of advancing into the seniors and gaining further valuable experience, he turned pro as a raw 19-year-old, having won 80 of 88 amateur bouts but only two at senior level. With the benefit of hindsight, he acknowledges his mistake.
For five years he made steady progress, stopping 12 of his first 15 opponents. Then he met Kevin Kelly, the Australian who had floored 1996 Olympic gold medallist David Reid in a failed bid to seize the American's junior middleweight title. Kelly was his first serious test, and for three rounds Lockett confessed that he had a torrid time before he managed to stop him with an overhand right in the fourth.
His next outing, however, was his nadir, a split decision loss to Yuri Tsarenko from Belarus after 12 rounds that left him requiring 40 stitches to repair various facial wounds.
Lockett resumed his career -- but only after much soul-searching -- and he avenged his only defeat in an overall record of 30-1 (21 KOs) by outpointing Tsarenko in 2003.
[+] EnlargeChris Farina/Top Rank
How will Lockett respond to taking a punch on the chin from a puncher of Pavlik's caliber?
He has never operated at Pavlik's level, however.
Indeed, he found himself awed by the Youngstown, Ohio hero's performance in May 2007 against dynamite puncher Edison Miranda. "I didn't think that he'd beat Miranda," Lockett said. "I found myself cheering for him during the fight and when he pulled it off and got interviewed afterwards, I really liked the guy.
"He has a working class background and he's down to earth, a lot like myself. My father [Steve], who urged me to go to the local boxing club where I grew up in Cwmbran [a town in southern Wales] when I was a kid, has worked as a builder all his life, and my mother [Elaine] is a cook in the local primary school. I admire Pavlik as a fighter but I like him even more as a man."
Under his trainer's keen eye, Lockett will try to devise a strategy to undermine Pavlik's position as middleweight king. At 5-foot-10, he will concede almost 5 inches in height to the champion but the difference, according to former middleweight title challenger Robert McCracken, who trains super middleweight contender Carl Froch, will not merely be physical when the bell rings.
"Lockett's a good puncher and he'll give it a go, no matter who he's up against … but it's too big a step," McCracken said. "Pavlik's at least two levels above what he's faced in the ring before now and it would be a Rocky-esque story, you'd have to say, if he pulled it off."
Brave and proud, Lockett will try to resist whatever part he is scripted to play, for the supporting role in a boxing ring brings only pathos and pain.
Why would one of the biggest names in boxing be inclined to defend the world middleweight title against an unknown 31-year-old challenger from Wales, after all?
As Bill Clinton might say, "It's the story line, ******!"
With trainer of the year Enzo Calzaghe in Lockett's corner, world super middleweight champion Joe Calzaghe will be near enough, too, for reporters to pose questions and get answers. Fans' forums will buzz with speculation about a Calzaghe-Pavlik matchup (provided that Calzaghe takes care of business against Bernard Hopkins first).
In other words, it's a cheap way for promoter Bob Arum to sell Pavlik's first title defense which, on paper, does little to set the pulse racing.
In overcoming Jermain Taylor to ascend to his present status, Pavlik demonstrated fierce desire, foreboding power and film-like star quality. Lockett, on the other hand, has been barely a blip on the radar.
[+] EnlargeChris Royle/FightWireImages.com
Compared to Pavlik, Lockett, left, has fought relatively obscure opposition.
Erudite and articulate, the challenger knows the script. He is not ******. In fact, he regards himself as a businessman first and foremost.
When offered the opportunity to encounter Arthur Abraham for another alphabet title at middleweight late last year, Lockett turned it down. The Armenian's promoter, Wilfried Sauerland, offered less money than Lockett was being paid by his own promoter, Frank Warren, to fatten his record -- and Sauerland wanted options to promote five future bouts.
"Why would I sign my life away?" Lockett thought.
Of course, it helps that he has been astute enough in managing his financial affairs to invest in an impressive property portfolio, which includes a couple of developments in the Welsh town of Pontypool and another by the waterfront in Swansea. He also studied sports science at the University of Newport and is a personal fitness instructor.
Boxing has been his primary focus since he was 8 years old, but he is no prisoner to his profession, not in the conventional way. He is bright enough to make a better life for himself, wife Nia and 19-month-old son Jac (the Welsh spelling) by other means, but he also knows the difference between boxing Pavlik or Abraham: It's the economy, ******!
I'm being paid four or five times more than what my previous highest purse earned me. That's a good incentive.
-- Gary Lockett, on why he agreed to fight Kelly Pavlik
"I'm being paid four or five times more than what my previous highest purse earned me," he said. "That's a good incentive. Very few of us fighters come out of boxing having made money. That's the reality. So what would have been the point in me putting my career on the line, if I wasn't going to earn anything out of it?
"Some fights are so brutal that you will never be the same again as a fighter. If it's going to be the last bout of your career, you might as well get paid well for it."
Not that Lockett believes he will experience his last night in the ring on June 7 at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City. It is true, however, that he has long wrestled with his demons, and his lack of self-confidence almost persuaded him at one point to quit.
As a young amateur, he had revealed a precocious talent. Nine British junior titles and a gold medal in the European junior championships as a welterweight in 1992 confirmed his potential.
But instead of advancing into the seniors and gaining further valuable experience, he turned pro as a raw 19-year-old, having won 80 of 88 amateur bouts but only two at senior level. With the benefit of hindsight, he acknowledges his mistake.
For five years he made steady progress, stopping 12 of his first 15 opponents. Then he met Kevin Kelly, the Australian who had floored 1996 Olympic gold medallist David Reid in a failed bid to seize the American's junior middleweight title. Kelly was his first serious test, and for three rounds Lockett confessed that he had a torrid time before he managed to stop him with an overhand right in the fourth.
His next outing, however, was his nadir, a split decision loss to Yuri Tsarenko from Belarus after 12 rounds that left him requiring 40 stitches to repair various facial wounds.
Lockett resumed his career -- but only after much soul-searching -- and he avenged his only defeat in an overall record of 30-1 (21 KOs) by outpointing Tsarenko in 2003.
[+] EnlargeChris Farina/Top Rank
How will Lockett respond to taking a punch on the chin from a puncher of Pavlik's caliber?
He has never operated at Pavlik's level, however.
Indeed, he found himself awed by the Youngstown, Ohio hero's performance in May 2007 against dynamite puncher Edison Miranda. "I didn't think that he'd beat Miranda," Lockett said. "I found myself cheering for him during the fight and when he pulled it off and got interviewed afterwards, I really liked the guy.
"He has a working class background and he's down to earth, a lot like myself. My father [Steve], who urged me to go to the local boxing club where I grew up in Cwmbran [a town in southern Wales] when I was a kid, has worked as a builder all his life, and my mother [Elaine] is a cook in the local primary school. I admire Pavlik as a fighter but I like him even more as a man."
Under his trainer's keen eye, Lockett will try to devise a strategy to undermine Pavlik's position as middleweight king. At 5-foot-10, he will concede almost 5 inches in height to the champion but the difference, according to former middleweight title challenger Robert McCracken, who trains super middleweight contender Carl Froch, will not merely be physical when the bell rings.
"Lockett's a good puncher and he'll give it a go, no matter who he's up against … but it's too big a step," McCracken said. "Pavlik's at least two levels above what he's faced in the ring before now and it would be a Rocky-esque story, you'd have to say, if he pulled it off."
Brave and proud, Lockett will try to resist whatever part he is scripted to play, for the supporting role in a boxing ring brings only pathos and pain.
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